Solitudes
by Elphaba Tiggular
Summary: Based on a Stargate SG1 episode, but with a HP twist. Harry and Hermione are trapped in a cave alone...what will they do? One-shot, R & R please!


Harry Potter  
  
'Solitudes'  
  
In short, this story is greatly influenced by an episode of Stargate SG-1 by the same title. In the episode the Stargate malfunctions and two characters, Captain Samantha Carter and Colonel Jack O'Neill, are trapped in Antarctica in a cave. However this is a Harry Potter fic based on the general episode idea from Hermione's POV.  
  
I realized it was dark all around me when I awoke, nothing to see or anything. I could feel the air biting my skin, but nothing more. As my eyes adjusted to the dark and I could see once more I noticed that I was trapped in an ice-bitten cave in the dead of December, meaning most students were home still for Christmas break. Suddenly I heard a noise and let out a scream thinking there was a boggart or another creature hiding in the cave.  
  
'Hermione,' I heard a voice this time.  
  
I blinked a couple times, recognizing the voice now as Harry's. I glanced around and saw him lying on the ground a couple feet away from me. Quickly I moved to his side, not sure what else I should do. I shivered and sat down; the ground was frozen as well and bit at my legs. Harry looked awful, a mess of blood and sweat I had doubted that I looked any better. The funny thing was I couldn't remember exactly how we arrived in the situation.  
  
'Harry...ohh, your leg...' I murmured.  
  
'How bad is it?' he asked.  
  
'I think it's broken...but I'm not sure,' I replied.  
  
'Where's Ron? Is he here?'  
  
'Um...no, Ron's not here, he never followed us in here...the thing is I cannot really remember exactly how this happened...and, um, I am not sure how we will get help.'  
  
I felt numb, not sure what I should do or say about the situation, but it appeared that I was not helping any, only making it worse. The air was so chilly around us, but there appeared to be a source of light coming from a hole from above us. Which was not so great...because it allowed the heat to escape and more frozen air in, I had remembered reading some book at home that said that if you were ever stuck in a cave your body heat would make the ice melt slightly and cause the cave to regulate so that the air in the cave matched the temperature of your body.  
  
I sighed and reached in my robes' pocket to get my wand and found nothing. I started to mentally panic and search the ground on where I had been lying a few minutes earlier. Then I quickly started searching the rest of the cave.  
  
'Hermione?'  
  
'It's nothing major...but my wand is missing,' I said.  
  
I looked to Harry, who reached into his robes' pocket and also came up wandless. Yes, now I could panic and start to go crazy. Here we were without wands or a faint idea how to get out. Harry had a broken leg and I was a hysterical mess. Harry had started to lift himself from the ground, using the cave wall to help him.  
  
'Harry, don't move!' I cried. 'You'll only make your injury worse if you try to move.'  
  
Harry gave a frustrated sigh and sat down. It was starting to get colder, possibly signaling that night was approaching. I sat near Harry and tried to see if remembering warmth would help me feel warm...it worked for two minutes then the warm feeling started to ebb away leaving me colder than before. I shivered and moved closer to Harry.  
  
'If no one finds us by morning I will try and dig us out,' I said quietly.  
  
He nodded, his cheeks were turning red from the cold and his lips were turning blue. It was too cold to be out at this time and lucky for Ron, who said that going into the cave was a bad idea and didn't come with us and went off with Ginny and Luna back to the castle. Hopefully Ron would save us by notifying Professor McGonagall that we never came back.  
  
'Harry, I could try making a splint of a sort...and well, just trust me,' I said after much debating on what I should do.  
  
'I trust you,' he replied.  
  
'Ok, this may hurt...I've never really done this before, but I have read about it once and took a class of a sort,' I whispered.  
  
'Why doesn't that surprise me?' he mused with a laugh.  
  
'Haha, now sit still or you'll only get hurt worse,' I scolded.  
  
I moved from where I was sitting and took off my robes, I then sat in front of Harry and took his broken leg in my hand feeling where it broke and to see if the bones needed to be set back in to place. I heard Harry draw in a sharp and painful sound breath. The bone was broken in the lower part of his leg, not to get technical, and did need to be set back. I groaned, ok, this had to be the worst-case scenario.  
  
'I'm sorry Harry, but this is going to hurt even more, I need to put the bones back in alignment,' I said looking up at him.  
  
He nodded and gritted his teeth together, he was in pain, but it would only get worse. I was not very good at medical field, either Muggle or Wizarding medicine. I took a deep breath and took his leg between my hands where the bone was broken and pushed the bones back in alignment. He cried out in pain as the bones were set back in their proper location. As soon as I felt that they were back in place I took my robes and folded it so that it felt thick and stiff as possible, but moveable so that I could wrap it around his leg. I started to wrap it around his leg and focused on the area of the broken bone, but was careful not to cut off circulation.  
  
'Ok, I'm done,' I said with a great sigh. 'I did the best I could and, uh, you still shouldn't move it too much...I'm no Madame Pomfrey.'  
  
Harry nodded weakly, wincing in pain, it seamed to be the only thing he could do. I felt a deep sorrow watching him in pain.  
  
'Ooh, I'm so sorry...I didn't do a good job, did I?' I asked.  
  
'No-no, you did a brilliant job...it's just,' he paused, 'it's just that, er...where did you learn to do this?'  
  
I sat next to him and laughed, 'You will never believe it, but during the summer my mum made me join the Girl Guides.'  
  
Harry laughed too and smiled the best he could with all the pain he was in. After a minute or two we were thrown into silence. We both sat there looking around at the cave walls, I could feel the bite of the snow from under me. I felt a great wave of awkwardness sweep through me.  
  
We jumped at the sound of a chime. It must have been nine o'clock, since the bell chimed every quarter hour...either nine o'clock or twelve o'clock. I honestly hoped it was twelve because I could start trying to dig us out. Either way it had become noticeably dark outside. We were shivering, cold and not dressed to spend a night somewhere this chilly.  
  
'It's a bit chilly, isn't it?' I asked trying to break the silence.  
  
Harry nodded, 'Yeah, it is...'  
  
Silence wrapped around us once again. I shivered and rested my head on folded arms. I heard a faint noise from my stomach and I remembered that we hadn't eaten since lunch time. Closing my eyes I tried to sleep and forget about hunger, being cold or even being tired. With the feeling of dark around me the only thing I could feel was the cold and bitter air. My legs and back had already become numb from the cold; I could not feel anything, but pinches of the cold air on my legs.  
  
'Hermione, you're freezing,' Harry said.  
  
'Yeah, so are you,' I replied between chattering teeth.  
  
I opened my eyes and looked at Harry. He looked awfully pensive at the moment; I bet he was deciding what he should do at the moment to help the situation. Honestly I hoped that he had a plan or at least some sort of idea how to keep us from freezing to death.  
  
'I'm going to need your help. We're going to use my robes as a blanket, it the warmest thing we have,' he said.  
  
I nodded and helped him remove his robes without moving him too much. We were both freezing now as we hastily threw his winter robes over us. I moved closer to Harry hoping that by both of us under the robes it would increase our warmth via body heat.   
  
'Harry, I'm not sure how long we can last here...we have no food, we can possibly use the ice and snow for water, but that is the most we can do. I'm not very strong so it will take a long while before we can get out of here,' I said.  
  
'Hermione...how long do you think we have been in here?' Harry asked.  
  
'I don't know...over four hours, we must have blacked out for an hour or two,' I replied and rested my head on Harry's shoulder. 'I'm so cold and tired.'  
  
'Sleep then,' he whispered softly putting a protective arm around me.  
  
I nodded and closed my eyes, I wanted to be somewhere safe and warm, but it could have been worse, I could have been stuck with Ron panicking. If I slept I could forget all about being cold and hungry and have happy dreams...dreams of Harry and me in Hogsmeade alone together and being happy and warm. I wouldn't deny that I had a crush on Harry nor would I openly say it, but there was definitely a pull between us and I liked it. We felt so comfortable together and didn't mind being in the situation that we were in because we were that comfortable together.  
  
Later that night I awoke to find that Harry had fallen asleep, his warm breaths were hitting my cheek. I smiled looking at him, so peaceful. I reached out and brushed some of his bangs away from his eyes. Upon my touch Harry's eyes clamped tightly shut and he moaned.  
  
'Mum...dad...no, don't...' he said.  
  
I wondered how often he had bad dreams like this, I would imagine often since he never knew his parents. It made me sad to think about it, how he lived all his life without knowing love or real happiness.   
  
'Don't go that way...he will kill you...' Harry moaned in his sleep.  
  
Not knowing what to do I kissed him lightly on the cheek and whispered, 'Harry, it's alright...I'm here.'  
  
It seemed to have calmed him down, like my message had been conveyed in his dreams as his mother. I really had almost no option, but to try to get us out of the cave. I was afraid what would happen if we didn't get out.   
  
'Mum...Pettigrew betrayed you guys, Sirius is innocent...' he mumbled. 'Sirius...died last year...Voldemort killed him...'  
  
It was evident who he had blamed for his godfather's death. I knew that he also blamed himself for it as well...he was all alone now, he had finally found a father figure, and he died after knowing him for only two years. Harry now treasured his Firebolt more than anything he had owned.   
  
I felt awkward listening to him talk to his mother. It was like I was afraid of what he may say, so I got up and started to try and clear the mouth of the cave from the mess of snow and rocks.   
  
The rocks were massive and heavy, too heavy for me to lift. Instead I tried to claw my way through the snow and the ice as fast I could. And every time I would get a good three inches through the snow, I'd hit a rock, making it too hard to even try. I sunk to the floor of the cave rubbing my numbed hands together to get some feeling back. Never had I felt so helpless in my life.   
  
I looked at Harry, who had seemed to have a peaceful sleep, talking to his mother. I felt happy for him, but it still irked me that he was talking aloud to her through his sleep. I wondered if he would reveal anything that would conflict our relationship at all, even if it was that he like Ginny it meant that I would feel weird around Ginny. Having a crush on him made me feel slightly bitter at other girls who had gotten Harry's attention, even for a moment. I wanted to selfishly be the only girl that Harry looked at and spoke to so familiarly.  
  
'A girlfriend? No mum, not yet...there is one girl,' he said.  
  
I stiffened hearing this; I knew the next thing he said would be her name, because if Harry was really having any sort of communication with his mother, even if he was dreaming it, she would undoubtedly ask who she was. I inched closer and walked softly over to him, he smiled.  
  
'You would never believe it mum...she rivals you for being the cleverest witch...she's a Muggleborn like you...' he explained.  
  
I kept inching towards him, until I was sitting next to him again. I wanted to know who he liked and I knew this was the worst way around it, but I wasn't Ron. Harry and Ron are like brothers, so naturally Ron knows everything there is to know about Harry, who he likes, who he hates, why he acts the way he does etc. and I was envious. I wish I was Harry's closest friend, but boys will be boys.   
  
If I had been adding up the clues just right, he was talking about me. Surely, there were other Muggleborn girls that Cho Chang may as well be a Muggleborn...but after that argument with her about the D.A. he would never mention her name without a scowl on his face.   
  
'Her name is Hermione, you'd love her mum, she's just like you,' he stated. 'But...I don't know if she likes me the same way. She's my friend after all.'  
  
My eyes opened wide. My first initial thought was 'somebody pinch me' because it couldn't have been real, but the numbing pain that throbbed in my hands said otherwise. I now didn't know how to react when Harry awoke...I wasn't sure if I should just act as though I never heard it or just avoid the whole matter.   
  
I rested my head back on Harry's shoulder. I didn't know what I should do now. I started to drift off to sleep again. I was too cold to dream, so my sleep was dreamless and felt cold.  
  
When I awoke again, I heard birds singing and Harry was awake. I stifled a yawn and sat up, stretching my arms and trying to get feeling back in them again.  
  
'Morning,' he said.  
  
'Good morning,' I replied stifling another yawn. 'I guess no one came for us last night...I er, woke up and tried to dig us out and I got nowhere...it's mostly rocks, sorry, Harry.'  
  
'They will find us, Ron will get suspicious that we have not come back since last night,' Harry stated confidently.  
  
'Where do you get that confidence?' I asked. 'Probably your father right?'  
  
'I suppose so,' he replied. 'I had a funny dream last night, I'm not even sure if it was a dream. I spoke to my mum...we were just talking, she seemed concerned.'  
  
'About what? You not paying attention in classes or perhaps being like your father and seeking out trouble?' I suggested jokingly.  
  
'Yeah partially that anyway...she seemed interested in my love life,' he said. 'I told her that I had no luck with girls my age or even younger. I mean, gah, girls are so fickle! Take Ginny for instance for the first five years I've known her, I had believed she had a crush on me, only to go with Dean.'  
  
'I'm not fickle,' I said with a mock punch to his shoulder.  
  
'If you ever do become fickle, I will personally see to it that you are taken away. If I hear you exclaim, "Oh! My hair looks like a bush! What colour should I do my nails? What colour will bring out my eyes? Will he like what I am wearing?"' he said mocking my voice. 'I'm taking you down to the hospital wing and having Madame Pomfrey check you out.'  
  
'When have I ever come even close to that?' I asked.  
  
'Er...Yule Ball, fourth year,' he stated.  
  
'Harry, I wanted to see your reactions. Both, you and Ron were gawking at me. I say it was well worth the effort,' I explained. 'Besides, no one wants to look ugly or stupid in front of the whole school.'  
  
That threw us in an awkward and silent moment. This was happening a lot noticeably and I for one was not happy at all with it. Ok, it was boring enough that the two of us were trapped in a cave, but the fact that we were constantly getting into these silent moments was frustrating enough.  
  
'Hermione, you're not ugly or stupid; in fact, you are one of the most brilliant minds to come to Hogwarts. For some reason I believe you rival my mum on that level,' he said after a moment.  
  
'I wish I could have met her,' I whispered.  
  
'She'd love you...I don't know how she stood my dad...and it makes me wonder how you can stand me,' he replied.  
  
'What? Harry, why are you saying these things?' I asked.  
  
'Because they're true, you don't know how my dad was when he was in Hogwarts...he picked on Snape for no reason, I saw it in Snape's Pensieve, and my mum she appeared to loathe my dad,' Harry said.  
  
'People mature, Harry. They grow up and realize that some of the things they used to do were foolish and child-like. You've matured, you've learned many things that have made you grow up,' I reasoned. 'You may look like your father, but Harry, you are not him...sure you have inherited some of his qualities, but I'm sure it's your mum's sense of justice and faith in people that keep you from doing some of those things.'  
  
'You're just like her Hermione, Professor Lupin told me that my mum could see the good in anybody...and you can,' he murmured.  
  
'I doubt I'm as good as your mum...she has my admiration for what she done for you,' I said. 'I'm glad she did, Harry, truly, I am...I would be nowhere without you.'  
  
I brushed some stray bangs back in place with a smile. Harry looked at me, he looked so sad, and then looked down at his hands. I didn't know what influenced my next move, but I placed a kiss on his forehead.  
  
'Harry, I hope you find what you are looking for and I hope you're happy,' I whispered. 'One day you will be, I know it and you're going to be glad that you are here with your friends.'  
  
'Hermione...you have no idea how much I appreciate this,' he said quietly. 'I mean...we've never had time to talk one-on-one.'  
  
'I know and er...there's something I want to tell you and please don't take this the wrong way at all,' I stammered slightly. 'Harry...I...don't know how long we'll have talking like this...I guess what I wanted to say was...I love you.'  
  
There, I said it! I could feel the heat rising to my face in a frenzy. I couldn't even look at Harry now, of course I knew that he felt the same, but I had to hear it said to me personally not to his mother in some dream. I wanted to know that he liked me and is not ashamed to say that he does like me.  
  
'You what?' he asked in disbelief.  
  
'I'm not saying it because I feel bad for you or anything...that's one of the reasons I never told you. After what happened with Cho, I didn't think you would want anything with girls romantically,' I took in a deep breath. 'Harry, please, don't laugh at me...it's the truth. I really love you.'  
  
Again there was silence it appeared quieter than before. I sat on the frozen ground feeling bored and pretty lame. I couldn't even look at Harry now; it felt too weird and awkward to talk to him now. I knew the answer, but I didn't know how to even react when he did admit it...should I sit there and wait for him to come to me or should I take the first move? Or had I already done that?  
  
'Harry...it's ok if you don't feel the same...I just...I just couldn't keep it hidden anymore,' I said breaking the silence.  
  
'Hermione, what happened between you and Ron?' he asked.  
  
'Nothing...he just gaped like a fish when he found out that I wasn't interested in him, but he understands,' I replied. 'That's most likely why he left us alone.'  
  
'"Us,"' Harry repeated.  
  
'Yes," I sighed with a nod, '"Us"...Harry, Ron's known for a long time know. Don't underestimate him, he sees almost everything...even though it appears he doesn't.'  
  
Harry looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded. 'Yeah, I see what you mean...Ron's just a bloody big hearted fool and I suppose that's what makes him so great,' he agreed.  
  
I looked at Harry, wondering still if he would say what I had hoped for him to say. We just sat there for a moment or so staring into each other's eyes. It appeared as if both of us were seeking the same answers from each other, but dared not to say them. Then it happened, Harry leaned forward and gently pressed his lips on mine. The contact scared me at first, but I closed my eyes and felt his lips leave mine. I sat with my eyes closed savoring the feel and desperately wanting more. When I opened my eyes Harry was looking at me.  
  
'I hope that was the answer you were looking for Hermione,' he said with an unusual shyness to his voice.  
  
I nodded and we kissed again. We both had seemed to find what we were looking for.  
  
Suddenly a sound came and we split apart waiting to see what the sound was coming from. It was from outside the sealed cave's mouth. I got up and quickly ran to the entrance.  
  
'Harry! Hermione! Are you in there?' Ron's voice barely made it through the wall of snow and rock.  
  
'Yes!' I replied. 'How are you getting us out?'  
  
'I'm er helpin' 'im out,' Hagrid's deep voice came through this time.  
  
I nodded and moved back, knowing that it would be a messy job to clear away all the rubble from the door way. I watched eagerly as slowly a small hole was breeched from the outside, letting a soft beam of sunlight in to the cave.  
  
'How are you doing in there?' Ron asked.  
  
I shrugged slightly, 'Fairly well, if Harry didn't break his leg.'  
  
'He did? Harry, how are you holding up in there, mate?' he called.  
  
'Brilliant if I wasn't in so much pain,' Harry snorted.  
  
'Don't worry we'll have you out in a jiff,' Ron replied.  
  
It took over a half-hour until a hole big enough to let us out was made. We eagerly exited the cave as fast as we could, but were no sooner sent up to the hospital wing, where we had spent a great deal of our afternoon and evening.  
  
Madame Pomfrey healed our minor wounds and mended Harry's leg. Ron stayed with us, his eyes shining in worry.  
  
'So, what happened while you were in there?' he asked.  
  
'Nothing too exciting,' I replied.   
  
'Don't lie Hermione, it was tons of fun being trapped in an icy cave for a night, we should bring Ron next time,' Harry said.  
  
'Hey Harry...' Ron then whispered into Harry ear something at which Harry smiled. 'Good going mate! I'm sure that will show Cho Chang! Well, er, better go and eat dinner. Bye.'  
  
Ron had left us to our own discussion about what had happened. We would forever remember that night that brought our solitudes to an end and a new and happy relationship that was our solitude, a happy and warm place...ironic how a night would make a difference. Solitudes...  
  
The End  
  
A/N: :::Does a happy dance::: I finished my first HarryxHermione fic! Yay me! After two long weeks it's done, my monster lives!  
  
As Stargate fans can tell there are some very distinct similarities between the episode and my fic...let me see...the male has a broken leg and they are trapped in a cave...I think that's it...  
  
And er, sorry, if anyone seems OOC, I tried my best...but I don't think it did its justice. Oh well...It was an attempt that failed or didn't fail...I don't know...tell me what you think.  
  
Formating, I used the English style of quoting, kind of cool no? If you don't like it sorry, I was playing around with my style and it'd be a pain to go back now and fix it. 


End file.
